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Look up the model number at hp.com for the software.If you already have the software, it's hit and miss for other software that will work with your model.Some are free and some are not.

I had a nice 14 inch flatbed scanner given to me once, but no software. And I couldn't find any that would work for it. The software for it was around $60, almost the price of a new decent scanner. So I never did get the software.

Look up your scanner on the VueScan site. And I do understand your pain from using the default HP software.

I used to work with a similar sized and shaped model some 14 years ago. The software was a simple executable which had a basic looking layout and was fast. You could by a hardware device for it in which you could bundle a set of photographs, set the software settings up and the only thing you had to was pushing the start button and wait a little bit.

It was expensive and I don't know if HP still sells such devices for their current crop of scanners.

The funny thing is that my Windows installation is "nLite'd" and internet explorer has been removed. None of the current HP scanning software works without IE, I can tell you that much.

[rant]Also why an update for scanner software has to be 124 MByte? And the work flow of the HP software has been "stupified" too such a degree it is not funny anymore and there is no option to turn this behavior off. Besides that, the result of scan is stored in several obscure places before it is stored in the default location. After it is copied the file is deleted from the previous storage location.

Why is this mess necessary?

Now I really want to know what the guys and girls and HP were smoking when they created this, maybe then I can see some fun in using their software. [/rant]

With the first link you can get a free TWAIN development kit, which includes a very basic tool (Twack) to scan with. But the software is old...to say the least.The last one is far from free, but it supports script based ADF (Automatic Document Feed) when you have such a unit attached to your scanner.

Both links are more intended for programmers but with a little bit of luck all the tools you require are already there.

I've done this many times using the Adobe Photoshop Elements Editor. Elements uses my scanner's Twain software to scan multiple prints I put on the glass into one Photoshop Elements image.

Once the image with the multiple prints is scanned into the Editor, from the Editor menu choose "Image - Divide Scanned Photos." Elements looks for the borders of the individual photos and separates them into individual files that can be edited or saved. I usually have my individual photos lined up pretty well, but I think it will auto-straighten them if they are tilted a bit.

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We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on. --- Richard Feynman (1918-1988)

FWIW, I own a licence for PaperPort Pro 11 but use Vista's built-in scanning engine with a four or five year old (or older?) HP ScanJet 3970. Vista tags my scans and places them in a folder of my choosing and I then use PaperPort's amazing SET tools to tweak them... It's not a cheap solution by any stetch, but it works well for me.

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"Some people have a way with words, other people,... oh... have not way" - Steve Martin

Some scanners (including mine) come with an insert that will allow you to mount negatives and scan them six or so at a time. The bundled software will also handle separating the negatives into individual photos.

YMMV of course!

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"Some people have a way with words, other people,... oh... have not way" - Steve Martin

Generally you're left to whatever drivers your scanner manufacturer develops -- the software provided, & it's level of expertise, is a selling point when you get into the upper mid-range. Better software might have something like GEM code built-in, while pricier scanners might have it in the electronics. Normally whatever GUI other software might provide, you're still using the scanner's drivers underneath it all.

That said, what you want to focus on is getting the truest picture, no matter how close or far it is from ideal. If you capture all the data, software can handle the rest after the fact. One problem area is grain, where you either buy a plugin or try one of the free graystoration alternatives -- or struggle with whatever your image editor provides.

Spot / dust removal software is also useful & popular, and you might want or need some sort of color adjusting -- Corel for example has long had ICM profiling of your own scanner.

Scanning negatives vs. prints is a minefield of a topic, depending a LOT on the condition of what you've got to scan -- few people ever store negatives as they should. And the picture you'll get from negatives will often bear no resemblance to the print -- the automated process at the developers is actually quite involved, & now you have to mimic it manually. You'll also have to deal with more prominent grain issues. A print however might have discolored, and depending on the processing & paper, might not offer great resolution. I've had better luck with a dedicated slide scanner than an adapter for a flatbed, but those adapters are usable if you must... be careful though as the adapters themselves &/or negative holders are usually rather flimsy.

As always, if you want to buy hardware google 1st... There's some real junk out there, & not reading semi-pro or even pro reviews first could find you struggling to fix problem photos that are un-fixable & due to your hardware.

If you want to pay for the software, there really is an awful lot that can be done (near) automatically, so this sort of service can offer great results for a fair price. If you have the right software & hardware all you need 90% + of the time is someone to load & unload the negatives / prints. That's the basis for all those photo kiosks in everything from the grocers to the pharmacy. The downside is if you've got negatives, there is a huge leeway on what the result can look like & still be technically very good...

If you've got the time & inclination to play with the results after negative scanning, you might get something truly remarkable. The web site linked to provides the endorsement of a prize winning photog, & for his work it probably is the best way to go [though today I'd find it hard to imagine a pro going non-digital]. On the other side of the fence there are photographers that focus more on their art, often using more everyday subjects, instead of trying to capture those once in a lifetime moments. You're not going to get those sorts of results only trying to make the picture technically good.

When looking for a scanner, if you're thinking about the <$100 range, & if you're not after a slide / negative adapter, you can find the best deals by buying an All-In-One refurb, model closeout, or clearance. I've picked up 6 of them now -- the cheapest <$20 & the most expensive ~$35, all shipped prices BTW. In fact every year after the 1st I go on the lookout... I think of it as buying new ink cartridges that come bundled with a printer.

Yes I know it'd be cheaper to refill, & I've got the ink, but if you don't print often enough the heads clog, & that's been a constant problem with the printers here, & sharing printers hasn't worked out too well either.